Verizon confirms widespread outage, iPhones show ‘SOS’ [Updated]

If you’re having problems with your cellular connection today, you’re not alone. Verizon, appears to be experiencing a major outage. The carrier says its teams are “fully deployed and are focused on the issue.”

Update, 2:25 p.m. ET

Verizon has issued a new statement:

Verizon engineering teams are continuing to address today’s service interruptions. Our teams remain fully deployed and are focused on the issue. We understand the impact this has on your day and remain committed to resolving this as quickly as possible.

The outage is ongoing.

T-Mobile has issued the following statement:

T-Mobile’s network is keeping our customers connected, and we’ve confirmed that our network is operating optimally. However due to Verizon’s reported outage, our customers may not be able to reach someone with Verizon service at this time.

Verizon is down for many customers

According to data from Downdetector, the problems began shortly after 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. ET on Wednesday. There are reports across social media from affected users of all three carriers.

The Verizon outage appears to be far more widespread and nationwide, affecting users on both the east and west coasts.

Affected iPhone users with Verizon are seeing “SOS” in their status bar. This is an indication that they have no cellular connection at all.

As Apple explains in a support document, SOS in your iPhone’s status bar means that your device isn’t connected to a cellular network, but you can still make emergency calls

What’s likely happening is that Verizon is the carrier actually the carrier experiencing the outage. AT&T and T-Mobile customers, meanwhile, are experiencing ancillary cross-network communication problems. There’s no indication that AT&T and T-Mobile networks are actually down.

Verizon confirmed the outage on social media today, saying:

We are aware of an issue impacting wireless voice and data services for some customers. Our engineers are engaged and are working to identify and solve the issue quickly. We understand how important reliable connectivity is and apologize for the inconvenience.

The carrier has not provided any additional

Are you having problems with your Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile service today? Let us know down in the comments.

Updating…last updated January 14, 2025 at 2:22 p.m. ET

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